The clothing problem for Ulithians is rather simple: the men wear breechcloths wrapped around the loins, the women, single skirts of material woven from banana fiber.
The native breechcloths produced at Ulithi were and still are noted throughout the Carolines for their excellence. Among many patterns, the favorite is a black and white design achieved by interplaiting bleached pandanus and black hibiscus fibers. Many now have "G" strings, or hoe, which are made from garments given them by Americans, but a native hoe is frequently worn outside the more modern garment.
The hoe is a fascinating garment—brightly colored, the wearing of which would seem to be a major accompolishment—no suspenders, no belts, no hands. The method used in securing the garment so that it may be worn comfortably and confidently is something which you must get from the Ulithian himself. Incidentally, a brilliant Zebra or Charlie navy signal flag makes an excellent hoe, and these flags are in use today, posessing the manifestation in Ulithi which "zoot" might on Central Avenue.
Grass skirts here, as elsewhere in the Pacific, are a strongly prevailing fashion in female dress prior to puberty. At puberty—that age at which sexual maturity is reached—the girls begin to wear the wrap-around which
16
